A Star's Shine
by Triton
Summary: LOOK HERE!! Voldemort's captured a baby girl and staged a game with rules for two teams to follow. Oliver, Ginny, and Draco are the second team; Harry, Ron, and Hermione: the first. Which will make it to the dark lord? They've many obstacles to overcome.
1. Limos and Looking

chapter one: Limos and Looking  
  
"Ginny Weasley?" The prominet knock on the door, so hard and swift and loud, had set a little piece of doubt into her mind, but when she'd opened it to find the Minister of Magic asking for her name, she was so close to panicking she didn't answer him right away. George stood behind her, crunching an apple lazily and giving her a slight nudge in her back. The 15-year-old girl stuttered for a bit before inviting him in. He declined the offer.  
  
"We need you to come with us. It's a matter of urgency."  
  
Urgency? That Ginny was needed for? This must have been a mistake. Maybe they meant to find her father or one of her older brothers... Ginny couldn't possibly help, could she?  
  
"Now, Mrs. Weasley," His tone pressed for her to come. "You must prepare. Tell your family you're leaving and pack a bag for about a week's stay. Don't take longer than five minutes." He sounded very tired and nervous, as if there was some very great, grave, dangerous matter weighing on his mind and troubling him deeply. By the way he hurried her and stared off into space, lost in thought, that may be the case.   
  
As for Ginny, she walked outside onto the front porch of the Burrow with her duffel bag, which had a few strings and things hanging out of it because of her rush, and kissed her mother and father good-bye, waving to the twins and her parents and Percy. Ron had gone with Harry and Hermione to some sort of tournament. She didn't know all the details. The summer was still young and she was being whisked off to who-knows-where in... a Muggle car?! The Minister didn't say anything; just climbed in and told the driver to start heading where they needed to. Ginny gave the Burrow one last long look before leaving, for what she hoped wouldn't be too long.  
  
  
  
The car was actually a rather comfortable and nice one. It was what the Muggles call a Limosine, and if you rode around in one, you were mostly likely to be very rich or important. But Ginny wasn't feeling important; just confused. Where was she going? Why? And would she really be back in her home in a whole week? Didn't they know she was a girl with plans for the summer?! Those jerks....  
  
The car ride was longer than she had expected but it proved to be most interesting. She found all the controls for the air-conditioning and suceeded in creating wind and swiftly taking it away. She felt like God. One minute, it was blowing in her face and the next she'd turned the dial the other way and it disappeared. She had the power! The only question on her mind now was: does God have dials?  
  
About an hour or so into the trip, they picked up someone else who seemed just as surprised as Ginny had been. She watched as the person walked toward the car and opened the door swiftly. 'Please don't let it be him...' Ginny thought, as she saw where they were parked. 'Please, anyone but him!' But it was him.   
  
Draco Malfoy slid into the car and cast a very angry glare in Ginny's general direction. It took her a moment to figure out that he was looking towards his father (who was speaking with the Minister) outside the window. The long, black limosine was providing enough entertainment for Ginny, but Draco seemed rather bored. He slouched in his seat as he never had before and scowled at no one in particular. His arms were crossed and his pale hair dangled a bit in his eyes, not slicked back as it usually was. After all, it was summer.   
  
They rode for another two hours before making another stop (this didn't include bathroom breaks) and they'd barely talked at all for the whole ride. Together, in silence, they had discovered the television and were channel surfing (this was a television with good reception IN A CAR) as the third person stepped in. He'd seemed to have been expecting the limo, since his bag was already packed and he had a smile on his face that said "i know something you don't knoooow" in that ugly, taunting voice little children use. Well, everyone's entitled to whatever makes them happy, and if keeping secrets was the source of Oliver Wood's happiness, they would not allow it.  
  
They beratted him with a thousand questions so loud and so fast he wasn't able to think clearly. His head began to spin and felt a little bit of uneasiness form in the pit of his stomach. You learn something new everyday and Oliver learned he didn't like to ride in cars.   
  
"You know, don't you?! You know why we're here?!" Ginny asked loudly, referring mostly to that smile that had recently disappeared. He nodded, found a barfbag, and made excellent use of it.  
  
Once able to speak, he did so slowly.  
  
"It's a game."  
  
"A GAME?!" Ginny and Malfoy shouted at the same time, ignoring the fact that Oliver looked just a little pale.  
  
"Rules and Regulations set up by Voldemort." That shut them up. Oliver continued. "If each team makes it to a certain point following You-Know-Who's clues," Ginny giggled at the rhyming. "then it should lead us to a kidnapped girl."  
  
"Who?" Ginny asked, curious.  
  
"Selena Riafel Malfoy..."   
  
Ginny turned to Draco, who was looking extremely angry and annoyed and asked, "Relation?" Oliver answered for him.  
  
"Younger sister... only 2. She was stolen a few weeks ago by You-Know-Who's deatheaters and a day afterward, instructions for the game were nailed to the Malfoy Mansion's door. There are two teams. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are the first with a head start. Harry was the one to pick to the second team. Someone he loved," Oliver looked to Ginny, who had a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. "someone he hated," He looked to Draco, who scowled. "and someone he looked up to!" He seemed to boast, feeling rather important and loved. Not that he didn't normally... "So we're going on a little trip. The first clue is leading us to America. Anyone here know how to buy a Muggle Airplane ticket? The instructions were to not come by broom or we'd be 'shot down'."   
  
He was greeted with only blank stares and disbelief. Oliver sighed as the limosine came to a stop and the Minister, looking especially grim, stepped out and headed towards the airport ahead of the trio.   
  
"This is going to be a long week," Oliver breathed, patting his pocket where the "game rules" lay folded and grabbing his bag before heading towards what he hoped and prayed wouldn't be his demise.  
  
  
unless you haven't heard, triton is a group of three authors (read the bio) and we're hoping to write a really romancy, action, funny fic for everyone to enjoy. just a note: this rating is not going to go any higher than pg-13. hey, we can't help it. we're just good like that. ^_^ \\//  
  
this is mashaka, signing out! 


	2. Beans and Crows

Note: You have been forewarned. This is chapter isn't as great as the first.  
  
Chapter Two: Beans and Crows  
  
They stepped into the airport, feeling a bit odd in the midst of peculiar dressed muggles. Of course, this was precisely what the muggles were feeling themselves. Ginny looked over to Draco, who was making faces at the little kids running around their mothers, afraid of the strangely dressed people walking in front of them. It was quite amusing, and Ginny had to admit, she was a bit thankful for that tiny bit of absurdity.  
  
"All right, we'll have to get tickets now..." the Minister mumbled as he led them to a desk where ladies with clean cut suits and neat hair sat.  
  
"Hello Sir, how may I help you today?" the lady asked.  
  
"Yes, I'd like three tickets to...umm...Yellowstone National Park?" Annoyance rushed through the Minister's mind. Where the heck was the stupid park? With a nod, which brought thankfulness rushing into the Minister, the young woman began tapping away wildly at some sort of rectangular object with buttons on it.  
  
"Will you be paying with credit card sir?"  
  
"Er, cash, please." He answered back somewhat awkwardly.  
  
Giving the Minister a somewhat suspicious look the woman went back to the tapping, turning back the first time asking for passports, which the Minister had remembered they would need, and the second to hand him three tickets. Sighing, the Minister turned to the trio, who were all staring at him in amazement.   
  
"What was that thing she was pounding on?!"  
  
"Yellowstone National Park? We're going to a place that was named after a dirty stone?!?"  
  
"I can't believe I was just excited about this trip..."  
  
All in all, the Minister worried, worried about the trio. If they thought buying tickets was incredible, what would they think of other even worse situations?! Oh well, the minister thought, fate will just have to get better.  
  
"Now, for the plan..." The minister said as he guided the group to a waiting area. Their plane wouldn't leave for another hour or so.   
  
"Your first clue was left with the 'rules and regulations' and it's going to lead you to Yellowstone National Park, and no, Draco, it wasn't named after a...stone. I'm not sure what you'll have to do there, nothing was mentioned in the instructions, I suppose you'll just have to find a clue there. I must say, this 'game' is a bit vague; Voldemort doesn't give very accurate information, on your part. He must have spies or something..." The minister faded at the end, lost in thought.  
  
"Um, sir? What's an airplane?" Oliver asked, the small uneasiness he had had in the car was haunting him.  
  
"You'll find out soon enough. When the time comes for you to catch the plane, find gate 9A and walk in. I have to get going now, I wish you all the best of luck." With that, he stood and disappeared quickly in the crowd of people in the airport.  
  
"That settles it, we're toast." Draco said, his voice full of doubt.   
  
"Hey now, I bet it won't be THAT bad, we'll find your sister Draco." Ginny tried to make herself sound confident, so she could give a bit of encouragement, (to a Malfoy? Wow!), but the hint of uncertainty was still there.  
  
"Let's not get so gloom, how about we go find that gate right about now?" Oliver suggested.  
  
The trio made their way to gate 9A and walked in after handing their boarding passes to an attendant. They chose seats in the middle, even though Ginny was dieing to sit near the window to look outside, but no, they had to "stay together and give each other comfort due to being present with muggles," as Oliver stated. Then, after an attendant had come in and explained all the regular before-flight instruction, Oliver's fears became true, and nothing but torture for him. His eyes widened so big Ginny and Draco thought they could burst out of his face, which wouldn't be a pretty sight, considering all the vomit and such...oh you get the picture.   
  
Ginny enjoyed the trip; she liked the idea of a way to fly without brooms, which she wasn't the best at riding. She became even more excited when she learned they would stop in the famous city of New York. New York was only about the only muggle city Mr. Weasley talked about. Draco for one didn't care. The thought that Ginny had tried to reassure him only made things worse.   
  
A couple long hours later, the plane landed in New York. (The minister had given the kind of tickets that you use when you're heading to one place, but you have to change planes to get to.) This airport was even more crowded than the one in London; and loud too!  
  
"Oh wow.." Ginny said, mouth hanging open as she stared around at the humungous building. It wasn't much bigger than Hogwarts, but it seemed to be because a lot of the open space.  
  
"Shut your mouth Weasley, you look like a gaping idiot." Draco commented. Ginny quickly snapped her mouth shut and shot an icy glare towards Draco.   
  
"Hey, where's Oliver? Wasn't he just here?" Ginny looked around for the tall man, but he was nowhere in sight. She almost panicked but remembered that Malfoy was there, and she certainly didn't want to look like a fool in front of him. Wait a second, scratch that, she didn't care what Malfoy thought.  
  
"I should've known...well, we'd better go find him. You head that way, and all go over there." He pointed to different sides of the airport.  
  
"No, we should stay together; getting separated even worse won't help." She spat and started heading toward the large crowd of people. Sighing, Draco followed, muttering to himself how much he hated Weasleys.  
  
Ginny and Draco searched everywhere, or at least as far as they thought was everywhere. It was nearing time for them to board the plane, and they were getting anxious. Then, just as they were nearing a turn in the hall, Ginny thought she heard Oliver's voice. Ears assured, she practically ran, dragging Draco with her to a small café in the airport. Sure enough, it was Oliver.  
  
"So then, I hit the quaffle...whaa!! Ginny what do you think you're doing?!" He yelled. Ginny had reached up and grabbed Oliver by the ear, giving him an annoyed yet amused look. Malfoy bent over laughing, (he's a bit out of character, don't you think?)  
  
"Oliver!! We've been looking for you for ages!" Ginny gasped out, eyeing the small number of girls that had been crowding around Oliver. That's when it hit her. Oliver had been flirting!! With American girls!! She too doubled over laughing then. The crowd slowly dissipating, Ginny scolded Oliver once more, this time though, it wasn't as effective because of the smile on her face.  
  
"You should know better then to be telling those muggles about Quidditch! You're supposed to be someone Harry looked up to, huh?"  
  
Draco just stood there, the closest thing to a smile on his face.  
  
"Don't you think we'd better be going now? The plane leaves in ten minutes" He drawled coolly.   
  
"What?!" Ginny and Oliver spilled out in unison. (Spilled out??) Ginny and Oliver rushed to the gate, Draco walking steadily behind. Once on board the plane once more, Oliver had another "incident" and couple after that until they arrived at their destination.  
  
**  
  
They had taken a cab to the park, even though they had no idea whatsoever what to do there. By now, Oliver was sick of all the muggle transportation and vowed to stick to walking or riding a bike. The trio walked up to a booth that was surrounded by little clearing and woods on all sides, and found out that you had to pay to get in. Only thing was, they didn't have any money left.   
  
"Ahh!! This is just great! We can't get in, we have no where to stay, I'm getting hungry, and even if we DID find a way to get in, we wouldn't know what to do!!" Ginny groaned. Her stomach was growling, and it was nearing night. She nor the others had had anything to eat since their breakfast in the morning.  
  
"Quit your pathetic whining, Gin-Weasley. We'll find some way to get in, something to eat, and Voldemort isn't stupid, he knows exactly where we are and what we're doing right now." Malfoy said, realizing he had just stumbled over the little weasel's name, he hoped she hadn't noticed. And Ginny hadn't. She was wondering how Draco knew all this.  
  
"Just how is it you know so much of Voldemort's power Malfoy?" She spat at him, annoyed that he had called her pathetic.  
  
"Hey now, lets not get to each other's necks just yet!" Oliver put in, "We have to get in somehow, and then we have to find something to eat. That's the plan for now; when the time comes, we'll think of what to do about the next clue, all right?" Oliver suggested.  
  
"Fine, lets get a move on." Ginny replied.  
  
The trio moved on for a while, until Draco finally thought up an idea that would prove to be excellent in their situation. Without telling Ginny or Oliver, he slipped his wand out of his pocket and muttered, "Accio money". Instantly, a couple bills and some change flew into his hands out of nowhere. Then, sighing, he said to the other two,  
  
"I think we should head back towards that booth. It's better than just wandering like this."  
  
Seeming to take it into consideration, the two others stood for a moment looking at Draco, heading back towards the way they had come afterwards. At the booth, Ginny have Draco and expectant look as if saying, well, what now? He showed her what they'd do now. Draco walked up to the booth and handed the clerk there a bill, receiving a ticket of some kind in exchange.  
  
"Thanks" he muttered to the lady, and walked into the park, Ginny and Oliver striding in after him.  
  
"You had money all along and you didn't tell us!?" Oliver cried out. Draco gave him a look and replied.  
  
"No, I used a spell to get some, that's all. It's a wonder YOU didn't think of it..."  
  
Ginny started to giggle then, turning the corners of Draco's mouth up a tiny bit. Heading towards a small store before heading into the park itself, Ginny remarked, "You know, we should get some stuff and start hiking or something. Like going camping! This is going to be fun!"  
  
Inside the small store, the trio split and met back at the counter where Draco paid for the items. Once outside, they began hiking to God knows where. The sun was starting to set and it was getting dark.   
  
"We should set up camp for the night." Oliver suggested. They hiked for another couple of minutes through the woods and stopped in a small clearing. Draco started a small fire and Ginny laid out the blankets they had gotten on the ground. The night wasn't cold; it was a bit warm actually. They ate some candy bars that night, feeling too tired and lazy to cook anything. They would worry about breakfast when it came. Then, satisfied, they lay down and dozed off to sleep.  
  
**  
  
The next morning, the trio all woke up suddenly to a magnificent sound and water on their faces. Apparently, they had set up camp close to a small geyser, not realizing it the night before because of the darkness. It was a beautiful sight, to see water gushing out of the earth like that right when you wake up, if not a bit surprising.   
  
"Let's make breakfast!" Ginny said cheerfully. She wasn't picturing this trip as a task or dangerous, maybe that was Voldemort's trick?  
  
"Okay, sure, but we have a problem." Draco said, fumbling with a can of beans.  
  
"There's some sort of force around the food!!" He said, getting anxious and VERY annoyed. "Do you think this is Voldemort's doing?!" Ginny cried out after trying to open the can for herself.  
  
"No, I don't think he would leave dark magic out where muggles could easily get to it. Wait a second, what am I saying?!! Get that thing away!! It could be filled with dark magic!! I bet those things aren't even beans!! Get them away! Get them away!!" Oliver went on and on, getting more and more anxious every second. Ginny and Draco were feeling a bit uneasy now, so after giving each other a look, they started throwing the cans of beans away and into the geyser. Panicked, they didn't realize they were throwing out all their food and not dark magic stuff.   
  
"Say, Oliver, what are we supposed to eat now?" Ginny asked, her stomach growling.   
  
"I dunno," he replied, tilting his head back to look at the sky. "You, you don't suppose we could...yes...quick Draco get out your wand" He said, getting out his wand also. "I bet those crows taste just like chicken!" Draco was surprised, but he began to mutter spells along with Oliver, three crows falling out of the sky.  
  
Ginny was a bit surprised, but she went along with the idea, and roasted the crows over the open fire they had made. It took a while, but finally they could enjoy breakfast, now brunch.  
  
"I never thought I'd see a Malfoy eating crow in the middle of no where." Oliver commented.  
  
"Yeah, neither did I..." Ginny said, watching for a reaction from Draco who didn't move or show any signs of acknowledging the remark. It was a weird sight, black feathers lay around the camp, the trio sitting silently eating their crow, and then suddenly the geyser erupted. The water spewed water high, and along with it, several cans of beans.  
  
The trio looked amazed and amused, until the cans started coming down, the contents spilling out...down, down-right onto Oliver's head.  
  
  
**  
  
So what'd you think?! I know it was a bit long, and not as good as the first chapter, but I'm not as great an author as Mashaka!!   
  
Starlight Nemesis (this chapter was written by me) 


	3. Chapter 2 1/2

Snakes slithered and spiders crawled in the deserted dungeon and twisted tunnels under an unknown valley. Voldemort let out a raspy laugh, his yellow snake eyes slit as he smiled.   
"Well... they don't waste any time, do they? Where's the first team?"   
A death eater stepped forward and bowed out of respect for his master and answered, "Potter and his friends made it past the first checkpoint and are now heading towards Greencastle, Indiana." He bowed once more and returned to the shadows. The girl in his hands giggled and tugged at Voldemort's robes, her red eyes shimmering in the dark.  
  
*****  
Gee that was short. We just thought we wouldn't wait until Laria got her gear together and actually wrote.   
  
"Thank you Starlight and Mashaka for making our day," say the readers of the world. "You're welcome," Starlight and Mashaka respond, smiles gracing their beautiful faces. 


End file.
